Interview: Hanging Out with Hippie Sabotage

California-based indie duo Hippie Sabotage spoke with Afterglow about being brothers, the evolution of their sound, and touring following their set at Weekend Two of the Austin City Limits music festival. 

Written by Delaney Davis

Photo courtesy of ACL Festival

Having previously performed with the likes of Ellie Goulding and Tove Lo, Hippie Sabotage, composed of brothers Kevin and Jeff Saurer, are certainly making a name for themselves. With their top track on Spotify, “Devil Eyes,” racking up more than 123 million streams, it is clear that fans have fallen in love with their sound.

Consisting of trippy beats across smooth guitar licks, the group’s signature style has taken them to countless electronic dance music festivals and the top of Billboard’s “Bubbling Under 100” chart. While currently on their Legends of Fall tour, the brothers took a stop in Austin to not only play an ACL Late Night show at Emo’s, but both weekends of the festival.

Keep reading to learn more about how being brothers affects their music, their early origins, and what other performers they loved at the festival.

So how does your relationship as brothers affect your songwriting process?

Kevin: I think that it gives us a huge advantage because we’re able to be honest with each other, whether we like something or not. That allows us to delve deeper into the songs and make them even more complex than if we weren’t giving each other that same level of honesty.

Jeff: Yeah, I just think being able to be supercritical and not getting mad about it. 

You started collaborating in the sixth grade. How has your sound changed since then? 

Jeff: [laughs] It’s changed so many times. It started just as hip-hop instrumentals and then now it’s sort of just lead into a mesh of everything we’ve made over the years. Now with a lot of more guitar-driven elements. It’s all over the place.

Kevin: Yeah, it’s kinda just been an eclectic blend of our overall music journey over, y’know, a long time. It’s just kinda all over the place, mostly. I don’t know how to describe it. 

So you recently kicked off your Legends of Fall tour which actually kicked off in Austin. What’s been your favorite part of touring so far? 

Jeff: Our favorite part was last weekend when we played ACL, our parents were here. 

Oh, that’s great! 

Jeff: It was their first time seeing us at a music festival.

Oh, really?

Jeff: And their festival they’ve ever been to. It was so amazing.

Do they like Austin? 

Kevin: Oh, they love it. It’s a real special weekend. 

What other acts have you seen or are you looking forward to seeing at ACL if you’re able to see anyone else?

Jeff: I’m loving this Brittany Howard right now. Amazing, amazing! 

Kevin: Might have been smoking a doobie while we were listening, an excellent experience.

Jeff: We’re gonna see Childish Gambino tonight and Billie Eilish. And Gary Clark, Jr.

Kevin: We saw 21 Savage last weekend. I was having fun. Who else did we see last weekend?

Jeff: The Cure. 

Kevin: The Cure, yeah. Honestly we were walking around all over the place. 

Alright, last question. What’s next for Hippie Sabotage? 

Jeff: More music. More travelling. More shows. More craziness. 

Kevin: We’re going to take over the world!